Interpersonal Communication Pattern, Mass Media and the Occupational Expectation Process

This study expanded the Wisconsin model of status attainment, a path model including social psychological as well as social structural antecedents of occupational attainment. Recent research on status attainment has moved away from the description of mobility rates and toward explanation of the processes by which occupational positions are attained. This study was a secondary analysis of data gathered during October 1973 by an introductory research methods class. Analyses were done on 524 undergraduate subjects and also on males and females separately. Only a modest six percent of the variance was explained for the sample. While high usage media, grade point average, and socioeconomic status correlated with occupational expectations, there was a dubious negative path from news media usage to grade point average. The separate analyses for males and females revealed different paths accounting for thirteen percent and six percent of the variance, respectively. The inclusion of communication variables indicates that, with more refined measures, they may increase the prediction power of the Wisconsin model. Suggestions are made for future research on occupational attainment, with emphasis on the inclusion of more media and other communication information. (Author/RB)